Biden's Inauguration for Dummies
If you were not one of the 33.8 million people who tuned in to watch President Joe Biden's Inauguration, you have probably only seen and read small tidbits regarding the historic event.
Well, I watched it so you do not have to.
Biden's inauguration, during this pandemic, along with the mob that stormed the capital just two weeks prior, was certainly one to remember. This is without even mentioning the incredibly polarizing campaign between himself and Former President Donald J. Trump, who was running for reelection. His speech was a fascinating event that I have read, listened to, and commentated on below.
One of the first things I understood in his speech was that he emphasized temporary victory.
"We've learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed."
He acknowledged that democracy has been saved and preserved, but his victory is a small, temporary event in America.
He also appealed to the country calling for unity and togetherness.
"And we must meet this moment as the United States of America. If we do that, I guarantee you we will not fail. We have never, ever, ever, ever failed in America when we've acted together."
This call for unity is strong, appealing to America's general fear of failing or looking weak to other countries as well as to ourselves. However, we are unsure if this is possible since there are always agendas on either side of the political aisle and plans to usurp the other side in the next election.
This speech warmed my heart and gave me hope again after living through Trump's America for the last four years. I have always been a Bernie supporter but hey, you have to roll with the punches, choose the lesser evil, when it comes to politics unfortunately. Having Trump no longer in office is the highlight of my young life if I am honest with you.
This speech is a fascinating example of public discourse, no matter your perspective or political affiliation.
(I highly encourage you to watch this speech if you have not already.)
I remember my mom (unfortunately a Trump supporter) telling me after this speech, "He can give a good speech, I'll give him that." When she said this, she was in a state of apathy and intended the comment to suggest that his actions will be different from his words. While I'm also glad Trump's out of office, I find myself somewhat agreeing with her sentiments. A great speech is simply a bunch of well-constructed words if nothing comes from it, which is a fear I have for the Biden presidency. We talked in this class before about how politicians seem to keep rephrasing general ideas that sound great, but when inspected further we go, "what does this even mean?" That's the kind of feel I, and a large portion of the population, get from Biden. I don't know what this comment is, I just took it as an opportunity to write down my thoughts on the inauguration. Thanks for presenting your thoughts on it!
ReplyDeleteI didn't have time to watch the inauguration speech due to running from class to class, but thank you for listening to his speech! I agree with Kalynn, while a speech is nothing more than a series of well-constructed and articulated sentences, it doesn't mean anything if words are louder than Biden's actions. But we went through four years of Trump more or less yelling into the microphone and sounding coherently some of the time, so listening to someone who is calm and collected while delivering such an important speech was nice.
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